Two Taiwanese Sailors and Three Indonesians Onboard
China "Inspection and Seizure on Suspicion of Illegal Fishing"
Chinese maritime police seized a Taiwanese fishing vessel near the strategically important Kinmen Island under Taiwan's jurisdiction.
Sehchingchin, Head of the Maritime Affairs Department of Taiwan, is explaining the situation of the fishing vessel seizure. [Photo by AP Yonhap News]
According to Taiwan's Central News Agency on the 3rd, around 8:10 p.m. the previous day (local time), two Chinese maritime police vessels inspected the Taiwanese fishing boat ‘Dajinman 88’ near Kinmen Island and then towed it to China's Weitou Port. Kinmen Island is known as a strategic point of Taiwan, located 200 km away from Taiwan's main island and only 4 km from Xiamen City, Fujian Province, China.
Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration explained that the fishing vessel had two Taiwanese crew members and three Indonesian crew members on board. After receiving the report, two vessels were dispatched, but by the time they arrived at the scene, the fishing boat had already been towed away by the Chinese maritime police.
She Qingqin, Deputy Director of Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration, said, "We will contact the Mainland Affairs Council, Taiwan's agency responsible for China affairs, to appeal for the prompt release of the crew and vessel and a swift explanation for the forced boarding inspection." Chen Shih-kai, spokesperson for Taiwan's Executive Yuan, stated, "We hope the Mainland side will consider the difficult situation of Taiwanese fishermen who risk their lives to fish for their livelihood and promptly release the people and the boat."
In response, China stated that the Taiwanese fishing vessel was seized for violating its fishing regulations.
Liu Dejun, spokesperson for China's Maritime Police Bureau, said on official social media in the afternoon, "On the 2nd, the Fujian maritime police conducted a boarding inspection and seizure of a Taiwanese fishing vessel suspected of illegal fishing near Quanzhou, Fujian Province, facing Kinmen Island. The vessel violated the summer fishing moratorium regulations by operating a trawl net inside a prohibited fishing zone, and the fishing gear used was much smaller than the minimum net size stipulated by national regulations, damaging marine fishery resources and the ecological environment."
China announced in February, after a Taiwanese fishing vessel capsized during a crackdown by Taiwanese authorities near Kinmen Island during the Lunar New Year holiday resulting in the death of a Chinese fisherman, that it would conduct regular patrols in the Kinmen waters. Since then, China has deployed maritime police vessels to enforce inspections, questioning, and searches of Taiwanese civilian vessels near Kinmen Island. Pressure has particularly increased since Lai Ching-te, known for his pro-American and anti-China stance, took office as Taiwan's president in May.
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